Unexpected Wedding Surprises
by jmag0012
Summary: Anyone who has ever planned a wedding knows how stressful it can be.  How does Ryan & Jenny's wedding planning effect Castle & Beckett's non-relationship?  What happens when Lanie asks a date that is not Esposito?  *Please Read & Review*
1. Chapter 1

With slightly less than one week to go before his wedding, there was only one way to describe Detective Kevin Ryan: Stressed. To save money for their big day, he and Jenny had decided to forgo hiring a wedding planner and opted to polish out all of the minute wedding details themselves. However, their plan was incredibly flawed. As a homicide detective, Ryan already had relatively no spare time, so trying to cram wedding planning, sleeping, and spending even a little bit of time with his fiancé proved to be a challenging task. He was sleep deprived, frazzled, and honestly just ready to get the day over with so he could spend a week relaxing with his love in a tropical paradise. The other detectives at the precinct were acutely aware of how much pressure Ryan was under, and tried to lighten his load as much as possible. Still, it came as no surprise when Ryan entered the precinct on the Monday before his wedding in quite a foul mood.

"Yo, bro, you look like you just got slapped . . . And not the good kind of slapped," Esposito heckled his partner. Esposito, Castle, and Beckett were going over evidence in front of the murder board when the entrance of the disgruntled-looking Ryan provided them with the perfect distraction from their theorizing.

Castle decided to join in on the ribbing. "Ah, yes, I know that look well. That's the 'who the hell cares if there is supposed to be a ½ inch gold trim lining the tablecloths instead of a ¼ inch gold trim?' look. Well the answer to that question is, your beautiful fiancé cares. And no, she will not be sane, nor reasonable until after Saturday. It's a woman's birthright. Every woman is entitled to the perfect wedding, and it is no easy task to appease said woman on her fervent rampage to make the day perfect."

Ryan sighed, Esposito chuckled, and Beckett just held a mischievous smirk. "You would be the expert groom, Castle—you've done it enough times."

Castle's expression was a mix between shock at his partner's audacity, and a twinge of disappointment in the realization that her snide comment was true. Just when he looked as though he was about to retort, Ryan cut in.

"Guys, seriously. You know I'm stressed, and I know you all have really been trying to help me out with cases and work stuff as much as possible, and I really appreciate that."

"Why do I feel as though this sentence has an inevitable 'but' coming up?" chuckled Castle.

"BUT," Ryan continued perhaps a little too aggressively, "It would be awesome if my closest co-workers weren't the cause of my fiancé's latest tirade." Beckett, Castle, and Esposito exchanged puzzled, guilty looks. Ryan continued to stare them down like they were murder suspects he was trying to goad into a confession. After a long pause, he continued. "The three of you are the ONLY people invited to the wedding who did not send in their response cards. We invited over 100 guests, and my best friends are the only ones who can't get their acts together enough to send in a damn response card?" He looked pointedly at Esposito and said "Lanie sent in her response weeks ago. I'm glad to see that her dropping your sorry ass didn't interfere with her ability to courteously and responsibly RSVP."

Esposito visibly tensed and clenched his teeth. He seemed to count to five in his head and soften his demeanor before responding. "Yo, dude, seriously, I didn't realize it was that big of a deal man. I'm really, really sorry. I just figured Jenny would have extra chicken or fish or whatever. What do you need us to do? Call her and tell her what we want at the reception?"

Ryan sighed again. "I wish this was just about the food. It's also about the *number* of guests to expect. Everyone invited to the wedding got a "plus one" if they weren't married. When we were calculating the number of place settings to prepare for, we read that you should assume only half of the people invited would actually attend. Well, that is the general rule, only Jenny and I didn't think to count our single friends and their plus-ones as two people, and now we're going to have too many people. Jenny is majorly freaking out which is making me go crazy and act like this." Kevin seemed to slow down for a minute. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths before continuing. "I'm sorry guys. I know I'm overreacting. I just . . . I just really want this day to be special for Jenny. She's worked so hard on it, and I know it is going to be amazing no matter what. I really just wish I could get her to relax and realize that what's important is that we love each other and want to spend the rest of our lives with each other. I don't care if the centerpieces are light pink when they're supposed to be medium pink. I just care that she's there saying 'I do,' and agreeing to love me forever because I know that's what I'll do."

The gods must have been smiling on Detective Ryan that day, because just as he was finishing his last spiel, his soon-to-be bride walked into The 12th and stood silently behind him, listening with moistened eyes as her fiancé confessed his love for her. Kate beamed at the sight. She wished them all the happiness in the world and had no doubt that their marriage would last. Jenny wrapped her arms around her soon-to-be husband, kissed his cheek, and declared to the group, "Am I the luckiest girl in the world, or what?" Esposito and Castle fist-bumped Ryan in reward for his excellent timing, but Ryan simply looked lovingly into Jenny's eyes and pulled her into a tight embrace. As his arms encircled her, she said, "I'm so sorry for all the extra stress I've put you through with this wedding. I just wanted this magical day, but you never fail to remind me that as long as I have my Prince Charming, every day is a fairytale."

Kate shook her head and grinned at the couple. They were so sweet and precious, but she did not doubt that between her partner and Esposito, someone was going to give Ryan quite a heckling over that display of cheesiness. They did not disappoint.

"Awwww, our wittle honey milk has grown all the way up to be a Prince Charming. I wonder what magical spells had to be cast in order to perform this transformation?" mused Esposito.

"Well, I don't think Ryan had nearly enough time to go all the way to Oz with the way bodies have been dropping lately, so I'm going to go with it's kinda like the spell from the first Shrek movie, where the princess was a princess during the day, but an ogre at night? Well, Ryan is Prince Charming during the day, but Honey Milk at night. But don't worry, I'm sure after true love's kiss at your wedding you will be 100% Prince Charming." Castle replied. "Or 100% ogre-slash-honey milk. Either way, you end up with the girl, which is quite an accomplishment for you." He patted Ryan on the back, and he and Esposito fed the birds.

Ryan gawked at his friends while Kate merely rolled her eyes. She had grown quite accustomed to the playful bantering among her boys. Jenny, however, was not as used to this type of back-and-forth. She looked baffled at first before a look that could only be described as hurt spread over her features. "So Rick, are you trying to say that I'm an ogre ALL of the time?" she asked with a hint of sadness in her voice.

Rick looked at her in shock, "I, um . . . no, no, Jenny, it's not like that . . . I was just messing around with Ryan, ya know? Of course you're not an ogre!" He swallowed hard and awkwardly continued. "I mean, a woman of your beauty—our detective here is out of his league—" Jenny cut him off before he could continue. A mischievous grin lit up her entire face. "Really Rick, I would have thought that a master wordsmith such as yourself could have talked your way out of that much better. Regardless, that is what I call payback." All four of her companions stared at her in awe. Ryan looked like he had never been more proud.

"Oh, and now back to the reason I came to the precinct in the first place." Jenny instantly straightened up and went into wedding mode. "Javier, Rick, Kate, you know that I love you all, and this is probably tacky of me to even ask, but Kevin and I are so worried that we won't have enough room for everyone at the wedding. So basically what I'm asking, is unless there is some dramatic, unavoidable circumstance, would you mind to not bring a plus one to the wedding? It would really help Kevin and I out." She surveyed the looks on their faces before continuing; none of the detectives seemed to be too upset by her request so far.

"Is this going to be a problem? Has anyone already asked a date, or do you wait until the last minute to do that, too?" She was probably pushing this a step too far, but she had felt the vibe between Kate and Rick shift ever so slightly lately, so she was rather enjoying using these extenuating circumstances to see exactly where their relationship was headed—besides, serves them right for not sending in their response cards in the first place.

"No, no problem at all. It would be our pleasure to help the bride in any way possible." Rick was the first to respond with a genuine smile on his face. "Besides, you already invited my best girls, so who else would I take?" He charmingly grinned before realizing his slip-up. Oh crap, Rick thought. Did he just say that out loud? Maybe Beckett didn't notice. Who was he kidding, she was a detective! He was wringing his hands nervously, hoping beyond hope that Beckett was oblivious to the fact that she was included in his best girls, and maybe she thought he was only talking about Martha and Alexis.

"Oh Rick, enough with the over-zealous compliments. All is forgiven, and thankfully you did not teach your daughter the err of your ways, because she responded for both she and your mother, and luckily, neither of them are taking a date either," Jenny quipped. Rick was thankful that Jenny at least seemed oblivious to his Freudian slip.

"Oh Jenny, we've been so busy lately, but I really can't believe I so carelessly forgot to send in my response card! That is just so irresponsible and selfish of me." As Beckett was responding, Castle's composure stiffened. She hadn't said that she wasn't taking a date, just that she was sorry for not sending in her card. Did that mean she had asked someone to go with her? Was she back with Josh? He held his breath as he waited for her to continue. His mind was racing a thousand miles a minute, and the few seconds it took for her to continue stretched into what felt like an eternity for the over-anxious author. "With all that's been going on, I hadn't even considered taking a date, so I don't mind at all going stag. And anything else you need, please let me know."

The glowing bride-to-be inwardly smirked when she saw Rick Castle release the breath that he had been holding the entire time the female detective had been speaking. 'Well, at least I know for sure how one of them feels,' thought Jenny. And neither of them taking another date? This was definitely going to be fun.

Esposito was the last to respond, but he seemed cool as a cucumber about it. "Yeah, girl, no prob! I'm sure I woulda ended up just askin' Lanie anyways, so this kills two birds with one stone and knocks out another plus one for ya! You're welcome." Esposito cockily smiled. Both Beckett and Castle and Jenny and Ryan exchanged glances. Esposito observed these interactions, and his stomach sunk. He apparently was the only one out of the loop on whatever news he was about to receive. Ryan and Jenny exchanged one final split-second glance in which Ryan nodded at his almost-bride to say whatever it was they were communicating with their eyes.

"Javi, I don't really know how to say this . . . I thought you already knew, but Lanie already has a date to the wedding. And, um, it's not just a random, casual date." Javier looked at Jenny as she spoke, and his eyes widened and his smile was wiped clean from his face. Jenny hated to be the one to break this news to her fiancé's partner, but she was the one who knew the details—Ryan didn't. "Lanie's old boyfriend from med school, Taye, just moved back to the city, and I guess they kind of . . . rekindled their old flame. They've been seeing each other for a few weeks now, and he's accompanying her to our wedding."

Esposito looked like the wind had been punched out of him. When he looked up to see four pairs of sympathetic eyes staring down at him, it was too much for him. "Yeah, yeah, I remember her telling me about Taye a while back. No big deal . . . Easier to pick up single bridesmaids this way, right Jen?" Esposito winked at her as he continued, "And I hate to run, but I really need to go run down the financials on this clown," he gestured towards the murder board. "I'll let you know if anything pops." They all left Esposito to go about his day and sort out his feelings.

The remaining four members of the group sat silently for a moment before Jenny got up. "Well, now that I have officially made this the most awkward conversation ever, I'm going to head out to do my job."

"I'll walk you out," Ryan responded easily, even though it was clear that he was worried about his best friend's pain.

This left Castle and Beckett alone in front of the murder board. "So, tell me Castle, is wedding planning always this dramatic?" Beckett asked.

"I would assume. However, I was always more of a stand back and agree with everything kind of groom. Just nod and smile and tune out the crazy as best you can. It *clearly* worked out astoundingly well for me," he quipped back. He was delighted when his sarcastic remark managed to pull out one of Detective Beckett's tight-lipped, trying not to smile, smiles. Those were quickly becoming his favorites.

"I hear third times the charm Castle." She patted his arm as she made her way to the espresso machine with a little extra sway to her step.

He didn't know what had gotten into her lately, but he knew for sure that he loved the flirty side of her she had just started to show him. Maybe he was breaking down those walls of hers after all. Castle continued to stare at her for another half-second before muttering, "Going stag my ass . . . we will see about that!" and determinedly following after his muse.


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: None of these characters belong to me. They are all property of ABC and AM and his wonderful staff!_

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><p>Later that afternoon while Castle went to pick up lunch for the team, Beckett decided to go down to the morgue to have a quick chat with her best friend.<p>

"So, Lanie, how are things going with you and Taye?" Beckett casually asked the medical examiner.

"Things are great! I mean, when we first started hanging out again I didn't know if it would be weird—it had been such a long time since we were together, and I was kind of worried that maybe we had both built up these insurmountable expectations about each other that we would never reach. But, it just feels natural. He doesn't push me; he's not demanding; he just lets me be."

"That's great Lanie. I know things have been a little rough lately, but I'm really glad you found someone who seems to make you happy."

"Oh, spit it out girl! I know you're just dying to ask about Javi and me. It's written all over your face."

Kate tried to interrupt her to explain that wasn't her intention, but Lanie just pushed on. "Nuh uh, Beckett. Don't even try to deny it. You come down to my morgue actin' all sweet about my new man, but what you really want to know is what's going on with my OLD man." The ME had a smirk on her face.

Beckett brought her eyes up to look at her best friend. "So? Is there anything going on with you and Esposito?"

"See, now you're just looking at me with those big doe eyes trying to act all innocent. Kate Beckett, you just remember all the dirt I have on you."

Kate grinned because that was true. She and Lanie had had way too many late nights together.

"Ok, well, since you admitted you were being nosy, I guess we can talk about it." The ME chuckled, then her gaze got far off, and she looked like she was trying to figure out precisely what her next words were going to be. "Things with Javi are . . . complicated." She sighed. "We still talk, occasionally, but it's different. But sometimes it's exactly the same . . . gah, I'm not making any sense. What I'm trying to say is, it's hard to be friends with an ex. When we talk, we fall back into our old rhythm, but then something happens and we're forced to confront our issues, then we end up yelling and screaming at each other. After that last case, we argued for hours. I was in tears; Javi was torn up; it was bad. Then we decided maybe we should cool it for a while. We haven't talked much since except for some texts."

"Oh, well, does he know about Taye?" Lanie looked up at her friend, confused.

"No, I don't think so. Why?"

"Well Jenny came here this morning to give us a hard time for not sending in response cards to the wedding, and well, the subject came up that you were taking him to the wedding."

"And?" The ME raised her eyebrow at the detective.

Kate continued begrudgingly, "It's just we all knew you were seeing Taye, I guess just none of us expected you to take him to the wedding of Espo's best friend."

"Are you saying that just because I _used _to date one of the groomsmen, I shouldn't take a date to Jenny and Kevin's wedding? And it's not just any date. It's one I really like. And its not like Esposito doesn't have a list of ten floozies that he's just dying to take out." Beckett could tell the doctor was quickly getting defensive about the situation.

Kate wondered what exactly she had gotten herself into. This conversation was heading in exactly the opposite direction as she wanted it to. "I just don't want any drama to get in the way of Ryan and Jenny's big day. And it's not like you will be the one causing drama" Kate added before Lanie could interject. "Just with things so new with Taye, and Espo not taking a date, I'm just trying to prevent a soap opera love triangle." Beckett finished with a smile.

"Javier's not taking a date?" The unspoken 'WHY?' added at the end of her statement was clearly expressed in her tone of voice.

"Lane, have you been listening? The almost-weds told us we couldn't take dates since we all forgot to send in our response cards. Espo didn't seem phased by it, but then someone mentioned that you were going with Taye. I think that just surprised him."

"Did he look upset?" The medical examiner looked genuinely concerned.

"Lanie, gah, I don't want to get in the middle of this, and I've already said to much. I really wasn't coming down to here to screw up things with Taye or workout things with Espo. I just wanted to hear about my friend's love life and prepare you for potential awkwardness at the wedding."

Lanie pursed her lips at Beckett. "Mmm hmmm, I bet that's what you're doing. It sounds to me like _somebody_," she widened her eyes as she enunciated the word before continuing, "is worried that Javi will be a third wheel to her first real date with Writer Boy." She grinned, clearly pleased with her detective skills.

"We are not going to the wedding together! We've never even talked about it, and I've never even considered it. Besides, he's a groomsman, so he's probably going to have to get there really early for pictures and stuff, so it wouldn't make a lot of sense for me to get ready three hours early and just wait around. Then I would have to wait on him after the ceremony before the reception, sit alone at the actual ceremony, and deal with all the childish groomsman escapades." Kate was looking at Lanie like she had three heads.

"Well, it certainly sounds like you haven't thought about it." The grin on Lanie's face was as wide as the Cheshire cat's. After a moment she got serious again. "Don't worry sweetie. Things are bound to be a little awkward with Javi at the wedding, but we're cool. I promise. We'll be civil."

* * *

><p>"But what if the man we assumed was stabbed, was actually stabbed, just not by a person!" Castle looked at the detectives ecstatically.<p>

"And who would have killed him then, Castle? A monkey who broke out of the zoo?" Ryan grinned.

"No, a robot! Or a robot army! OOOOHHH, or a terminator!" the glint in Castle's eyes proved that he wasn't taking himself seriously either.

"Ok, well, on that extremely helpful note, I think we should call it a night. Everybody get some sleep, and we will start running down new leads first thing in the morning." Beckett reasoned.

Ryan and Esposito did not need to be told twice and bolted out the door within minutes. That left just Kate and Castle alone in the precinct.

"Detective Beckett, how very unlike you to let your team go," he glanced at his watch, "at 7 o'clock when a case is still open. Hmmmm, this can only mean one thing. You must think terminator theory had merit, so now you're going home to prepare for the inevitable robot army attack."

The female detective rolled her eyes at the author. "OR, it has been a long day, we don't have any new leads, and maybe I'm feeling a little sympathetic for Esposito."

"Well, I guess that's plausible. But, it could just be another one of your many excuses to get me all to yourself." The author wiggled his eyebrows at her.

"In your dreams Castle."

"No, in my dreams, we're usually in the interrogation room, not in front of the murder board, and we definitely aren't talking about Esposito." He winked at her.

A faint blush spread across her cheeks that most people wouldn't even notice, but since Richard Castle's most time consuming hobby involved observing every minute detail of his beautiful muse, of course he noticed. Castle decided to avoid making her even more uncomfortable and provided her with an out. "So, do you think Esposito's going to be ok?"

"Yeah, I mean, I guess. I think this whole thing just kind of took him by surprise." She paused for a minute, debating whether or not to continue. "I went to the morgue to talk to Lanie about it this afternoon."

His eyes lifted to hers. "She said that she and Espo still talked some, but she and Taye were getting pretty serious. It didn't sound like there was much hope for them to get back together."

"And you think that's a mistake?" Castle questioned her.

"I really don't know, Castle. I guess we all should have seen this coming. When people who work together get involved, it gets messy." Suddenly, it seemed like they weren't just talking about Lanie and Esposito anymore.

"All breakups are messy. Just like all relationships are complicated. The fact that they work together is just life. If they didn't work together, it wouldn't make it any easier." The author was quick to point out.

"I know, but now Esposito has to see her happy and talking about her new boyfriend while he's still hurting. And there's not much that sucks worse than having a new relationship rubbed in your face every day while you're still just trying to put one foot in front of the other to get through the day." Beckett responded sounding quite melancholy.

"Sounds like you've had some experience with that?" Castle pried. It was a long shot, he knew, but this was another layer of the Beckett onion he was dying to peel off.

"Yeah, well, that was a long time ago." Beckett looked at the floor, her eyes a cross between nostalgia and regret. "We should probably get going, too." She grabbed her jacket and tossed Castle's jacket at him.

Castle held Kate's jacket up for her to put her arms in, and then moved around to look into her eyes. "Just promise me one thing, Kate." The detective inhaled a sharp breath at the shock of hearing her first name. The writer continued, "Don't let things from the past dictate the course of your future."

"What about learning from your mistakes?" She asked, her green eyes searching his blue ones for answers.

"Mistakes are what make us. Just don't let the fear of failing keep you from playing the game. Life is hard enough as it is, you don't have to do it all by yourself."

"You sound so wise, Castle." Beckett tried to make light of the serious statement Castle just made. "Is that what your fortune cookie said this afternoon?"

The author grinned. It was just like Beckett to change the subject as soon as it got remotely personal. "No, actually, my fortune cookie said 'A beautiful woman will ask you a question today.'" He once again wiggled his eyebrows. "So detective, what is it that you have been dying to ask me? Something about an event on this coming Saturday, perhaps?"

Beckett gave Castle a sly, closed mouth smile. "That's funny. My fortune cookie said 'You will be hungry again in one hour.' So, I'm thinking your question must be coming from Martha or Alexis."

"Oh Detective, how you love to deflect. But, I did hear your stomach growl just a moment ago, so maybe your fortune and mine may collide when you ask me to dinner?" Castle playfully and overzealously batted his eyelashes at Beckett.

"Keep on dreaming, Castle."

"Oh, don't worry, Detective. I couldn't stop if I tried."

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><p>That night Castle set to work to devise his master plan to get Detective Beckett to ask him to be her date to Ryan and Jenny's nuptials on Saturday. He had five days, and he was going to make them count. He would leave her an anonymous present on her doorstep every morning leading up to the wedding. He was sure she would eventually discover that he was the one leaving the gifts, and he was counting on that fact, but he would never verbally admit it to the detective.<p>

Castle had not been this excited nor determined in years. He started planning the week's gifts, and immediately went to work on her gift for tomorrow morning. He couldn't wait to see her face when she arrived to the precinct in the morning. If all things went according to plan, she would be more than just his wedding date by the end of the week.

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><p>_<em>AN 2: This is my first fanfiction story, so I would LOVE reviews/comments/suggestions/criticisms . . . please review! Thanks so much!_


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